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Germany Squad Report: Team rests after an unforgettable win

Jason Cairnduff / Action Images

After a wholly unexpected 1-7 destruction of the host nation (and World Cup favorites) Brazil, the team boarded a plane to head back to their home base in Santa Cruz Cabralia, Campo Bahia.

There, after sleeping on a result that Thomas Mueller said was “madness” and Deutsche Welle described as “surreal”, they’ll begin preparations for their next opponent to be decided today in the semifinal in São Paulo.

As for the man who was supposedly under enormous pressure to deliver on the promise of Germany’s best generation of footballers in years, coach Jogi Löw was focused and magnanimous after the final whistle (he had a lot of time to prepare his remarks). But he also offered one of the most convincing explanations for Brazil’s incredible meltdown in a six minute span in the first half:

"Five goals in 18 minutes - it's clear that they were shocked and didn't know what to do.

"Let's put it into context: the hosts were unable to deal with the pressure. We had a clear, persistent game-plan and if we were courageous and believed in our own strengths, we would win this match. That the result would be so emphatic was not to be expected. Scoring three in four minutes the hosts were in shock, confused, and never returned to their original organization. We were extremely cool and realized they were cracking up, and we took advantage of that.        

"Everyone did their job today with a lot of concentration. But this has to continue. We need to stay humble. We don't want to overrate this. We have to stay concentrated until Sunday."

There was a palpable sense in the match that Germany barely got into second gear after a six minute deluge which produced four goals against a panicky Brazilian defense. Löw is experienced enough to know that the results are rarely predictive, and that Argentina and Netherlands will study the loss carefully should they progress to the final after today.  

For Germany however, this World Cup marks the return of a global footballing powerhouse to the near-summit of the game. That they did it in Brazil, in South America, in such shocking fashion, will be remembered for generations to come. Though maybe less fondly should they lose on Sunday...

Fixtures/Results

Group G — June 16 — Germany 4-0 Portugal

Group G — June 22 — Germany 2-2 Ghana

Group G — June 26 — United States 0-1 Germany

Round of 16 — June 30 — Germany 2-1  Algeria aet.

Quarterfinal — July 4 — France 0-1 Germany

Semifinal — July 8 — Brazil 1-7 Germany

Final — July 13 — Germany vs. Argentina/Netherlands

Squad News/Rumors/Injury Report

DF Mats Hummels tweeted after the game about working on his knee a bit, but nothing official out of the DFB.

Four Quick Notes

1. Iain Macintosh claims last night’s semifinal erased memories of Brazil’s infamous 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup.

2. Michael Cox with the tactical verdict—a game in which Kroos and co. were rampant down Brazil’s left side.

3. Last night’s semifinal was the most Tweeted about sporting event in history.

4. Reactions across German media.

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